Uhuru Village, 1921
The heavens did not simply open; they tore apart.
It was a night where the rain fell not in drops, but in sheets, turning the red earth of Uhuru into slick, rushing rivers of mud. The wind howled through the acacia trees, stripping them of their leaves and bending their ancient trunks until they groaned in protest. Thunder walked across the sky, shaking the very foundations of the village, drowning out the frantic prayers whispered in a dozen huts.
But inside one small, mud-walled home, a sound cut through the fury of the storm. It was a scream—raw, primal, and tearing from the throat of a woman in the throes of labor.
Outside, despite the deluge, the villagers had gathered. They huddled under the eaves of neighboring huts, their eyes wide and anxious, clutching prayer beads and charms made of bone and leather. Among them stood a six-year-old boy named Baraka. He clutched his father's leg, his dark eyes wide, watching the midwife's hut with a mixture of fear and morbid curiosity. He did not know it then, but he was watching the beginning of the end of his world.
Inside the hut, the air was thick with the scent of blood, sweat, and burning sage. The midwife, a woman with hands as rough as tree bark but as gentle as water, worked with frantic precision.
"Push!" she commanded. "The head is here!"
With a final, shattering cry, the first child entered the world.
He was a boy. He emerged squalling, his lungs filling with air as he announced his arrival with a lusty, furious cry. He was strong, his limbs kicking, his skin slick and healthy. The midwife cleaned him quickly, wrapping him in a rough cotton cloth.
"A son," she announced, relief flooding her voice. "A warrior."
But the mother did not relax. Her body seized again, a second wave of agony gripping her.
"Another," the midwife gasped. "There is another."
The second birth was different. There was no struggle, no scream from the child. The girl slid into the world in total silence, as if she had been waiting for the storm to quiet down to make her entrance.
When the midwife lifted her, the room fell into a terrified hush.
The girl was small, but it was not her size that stopped the hearts of those in the room. It was her skin. On her chest, directly over her heart, and across the span of her tiny back, symbols were etched into her flesh. They were not birthmarks; they were brands, glowing with a faint, amber luminescence that pulsed in time with the lightning outside.
On her chest, the sign of the crab—♋.
Across her back, two interlinked circles—⚯.
They glowed for a heartbeat, casting eerie shadows on the mud walls, before fading into the brown of her skin, leaving behind only the faint, raised ridges of a scar.
"Abomination," someone whispered in the shadows.
"Silence!"
The voice came from the doorway. The crowd outside parted, bowing their heads in fear and reverence. Even young Baraka bowed, peeking through the rain.
An old man stepped into the firelight. He was Mwanamalundi, the Great Prophet of Uhuru. He was older than the village itself, his skin like parchment stretched over bone. His eyes were entirely white, clouded by cataracts that had stolen his sight decades ago, yet he moved with the unerring confidence of a man who saw more than the waking world.
He walked to the midwife and held out his hands. Trembling, she placed the silent girl in his arms.
Mwanamalundi lowered his head, his blind eyes seeming to stare right through the infant's soul. The storm outside seemed to hold its breath.
"Listen," he rasped, his voice cutting through the drumming rain. "Listen, elders. Listen, ancestors."
The room went still.
"From this womb," Mwanamalundi declared, his voice rising, "comes a King and a General. They are born together, yet destined to fight the world until the end. One is the body, the other the soul. They are not royal by blood, yet they are born to conquer."
Gasps filled the room. To speak of commoners as kings was treason.
"This girl," he continued, tracing the fading mark on her chest with a withered finger, "carries the mark of power. And the boy…" He nodded toward the bundle in the mother's arms. "He carries the storm of change."
By the time the sun rose, painting the muddy village in hues of gold and copper, the prophecy had spread like wildfire.
The news reached the ears of the Chifu—the ruler of the land—before the mud had even dried. The Chifu was a man of immense power and immense paranoia. He had held his throne through blood and fear, and the mention of a "new king" born of common blood was a spark in a powder keg.
Fury twisted his face. "Bring me Mwanamalundi," he commanded his guards. "And bring me his head if he lies."
When the old prophet was dragged before the royal hut, a crowd gathered. Young Baraka pushed his way to the front, fascinated by the tension, by the raw display of power.
"Greetings, my Chifu," the prophet said, standing tall despite his age.
The Chifu sneered. "You speak of kings, old man. You speak of conquerors born in the mud. Where did you receive this prophecy?"
"From the ancestors," Mwanamalundi replied. "They whisper what is coming."
The Chifu turned to his own seer, a man named Ushindi. "Does he speak truth?"
Ushindi, trembling, looked at the blind man and then at the ground. "He… he speaks truth, my Chifu. The twins possess a power I have never seen. If they live… they will end your line."
The Chifu did not hesitate. He drew the iron sword at his hip, the metal singing as it left the sheath.
Baraka watched, his breath caught in his throat. He saw the gleam of the metal. He saw the cold calculation in the Chifu's eyes. This is how the world works, the boy thought. The strong take. The weak die.
"Then the prophecy ends here," the Chifu said coldly.
He struck.
The blade severed Mwanamalundi's head from his shoulders in a single, brutal motion. The body crumpled to the dust.
The Chifu stood over the corpse, breathing heavily. He laughed, a harsh, mirthless sound. "Place his head on a stake in the center of town," he ordered. "Let everyone see what happens to those who speak treason. And find the children. Kill them."
But the storm had washed away the tracks, and the fear of the gods was stronger than the fear of the King. The villagers of Uhuru, terrified by the execution, hid the twins. They were spirited away into the deepest poverty, hidden in the shadows of the village, their names changed, their lineage buried.
The boy was named Mwanamalundi, in honor of the martyr. The girl was named Mwajuma.
And the village waited.
Eighteen Years Later
Time flowed like the river—sometimes rushing, sometimes stagnant, but always moving forward. The Chifu grew old and complacent, believing the threat had passed. The village of Uhuru grew, and the twins grew with it, unnoticed, like weeds in a garden of flowers.
They lived in a dilapidated hut on the fringes of the village. They were poor, often eating only once a day.
Mwanamalundi, the boy, had grown into a quiet, slender young man. He had a gentle face and eyes that seemed to hold too much sadness for his age. He was often mocked for his lack of physical aggression.
Mwajuma, the girl, was different. She was tall, her movements heavy with a suppressed power she didn't understand. She kept her head down, hiding the strange scars on her chest and back.
But destiny has a way of finding those who try to hide.
It happened on a dusty afternoon in the village square. Jamali, the village's golden boy—strong, loud, and the leader of the local troop of young warriors—decided he was bored. Beside him stood his second-in-command: Baraka.
Baraka was now twenty-four, a man of sharp features and calculating eyes. He had grown up watching the Chifu's brutality and had learned that power was the only currency that mattered. He envied Jamali's natural charisma, but he followed him, waiting for his own chance.
Jamali spotted Mwanamalundi carrying a bundle of firewood.
"Look at this," Jamali jeered, stepping into Mwanamalundi's path. "The village mouse. A boy with a woman's heart."
Baraka chuckled, crossing his arms. "He is not even a mouse, Jamali. A mouse runs. He just freezes."
Mwanamalundi stopped, clutching the wood. "I want no trouble."
"That is why you are weak," Jamali spat. Without warning, he swung his fist.
The blow connected with Mwanamalundi's jaw with a sickening crack. The wood scattered across the dust. Mwanamalundi fell, tasting blood, but he did not fight back. He simply looked up, his eyes calm.
Jamali raised his foot to stomp on him.
"Leave him alone!"
The shout tore through the air. Mwajuma leaped from the crowd, her eyes blazing with a fire no one had ever seen in her before.
Jamali laughed. "And who are you? The mouse's sister?" He reached out to shove her.
In a motion swift as lightning, Mwajuma caught his wrist.
Jamali's eyes widened. It felt like his arm was caught in a vice of iron. Before he could process the pain, Mwajuma twisted her hips and heaved.
Jamali—the strongest youth in the village—flew. He traveled five meters through the air before crashing into a stack of empty crates. The ground shook upon his impact.
Silence descended on the square.
Baraka took a step back, his mouth open in shock. He looked at the girl, then at the crates. Impossible, he thought. She is nothing.
Jamali groaned, picking himself up. He wiped blood from his lip. He didn't look angry. He looked fascinated.
"I want her in our troop," Jamali grinned.
"Are you mad?" Baraka hissed, stepping closer to his friend. "She is a freak. Look at her. We should report her to the Chifu."
Jamali ignored him. "No. She is a weapon. And weapons belong to those brave enough to wield them."
Three months later, the price of that power was demanded.
It was night when the enemy attacked. The Red Skulls, a bandit army from the north, stormed Uhuru with torches and steel. Huts ignited like tinderboxes.
Mwajuma and Mwanamalundi fought back-to-back near their home, desperate to reach their mother. But there were too many of them.
"Grab the girl!" the bandit leader shouted. Nets were thrown, dragging Mwajuma down.
"No!" Mwanamalundi screamed, charging forward with a spear he barely knew how to use. The leader backhanded him, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
Then, the leader looked at the twins' mother, who had rushed out with a knife to save her children. He sneered and thrust his sword.
The blade pierced her chest. She fell without a sound.
Time stopped.
Mwanamalundi stared at his mother's body. Mwajuma stared at the blood pooling in the dust.
A sound began to rise. It was not a human sound.
Mwajuma screamed. On her back and chest, the symbols—♋ and ⚯—ignited. They burned with blinding golden light. She slammed her fists into the ground.
CRACK.
The earth shattered. A fissure ripped open beneath the feet of the soldiers holding her, jagged spikes of rock shooting upward like spears from the underworld. The men were crushed instantly.
At the same time, Mwanamalundi stood up. His eyes, usually brown and gentle, were now glowing pure white. He threw his head back and screamed at the sky.
BOOM.
A bolt of lightning, thick as a tree trunk, slammed down from the heavens, striking the bandit leader. The air smelled of ozone and burning flesh.
"Kill them!" Mwanamalundi commanded, his voice layered with the roar of thunder.
They were unstoppable. They were the prophecy made flesh.
When the dust settled, the enemy was dead or fled. But the village of Uhuru was terrified. The villagers emerged from their hiding spots, looking at the twins not with gratitude, but with horror.
The Village Elder stepped forward. "Stop," he whispered. "You… you are monsters. You bring chaos! Leave this village and never return!"
Mwanamalundi looked at him, the white fading from his eyes. He looked at his sister, then at their dead mother.
"Fine," he said softly. "We will go."
As they walked toward the village gates, outcasts once again, a figure stepped from the shadows.
It was Jamali. He carried a pack over his shoulder. "I am coming with you," he said.
Baraka stepped out behind him. He did not have a pack. He stood with his arms crossed, his face a mask of disdain and hidden jealousy.
"You are a fool, Jamali," Baraka said coldly. "You follow outcasts into the wilderness? They are cursed. They will die out there."
Jamali looked at Baraka, his old friend. "They are not cursed, Baraka. They are the future. Come with us."
Baraka looked at Mwanamalundi, the boy he had mocked. He looked at Mwajuma, the girl who terrified him. He saw power, yes, but he also saw chaos. And deep down, he hated that they had it, and he did not.
"No," Baraka sneered. "I stay. Someone must lead this village properly when the old men die. Go and rot in the bush."
Jamali shook his head. "Goodbye, brother."
The twins, followed by Jamali and half the village's youth, walked out into the unknown. Baraka watched them go, standing alone in the center of the muddy road. As their silhouettes vanished into the horizon, his hands curled into fists, his fingernails digging into his palms until they bled.
Let them go, Baraka thought, the seed of hatred blooming in his chest. I will build my own power. And one day, I will crush them.